Pedagogy First. Technology Second.

Wait Time 2: After a Student Speaks

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Wait Time & Thinking Space in 04 Questioning & Discussion, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.

Why you might use it

The problem it may help with

Rowe identified a second wait time that gets far less attention than the first: the pause after a student responds. Held for three seconds, it prompts elaboration and self-correction that an immediate teacher response cuts off.

Silence after an answer signals that more is expected. Respond instantly, even warmly, and the thinking stops there.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

A pupil explains why the graph flattens, and stops. The teacher says nothing and holds the silence for three seconds. The pupil adds the condition they had missed, unprompted, and corrects their own units on the way.

Try it

A way to begin

Run both wait times together for a lesson: three seconds after you ask, three seconds after they answer. The second pause is the harder habit, because an answer feels like your cue.

What to notice

Reading what happens

  • Self-corrections you did not have to make for them.
  • Whether answers grow past their first full stop.
  • Whether other pupils come in during the pause without being asked.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

  • After a wrong answer, the same pause has to read as interest rather than disapproval. Whether it will, in this class, on this day, is your call.
  • Breaking the ask-answer-judge pattern is the larger project this pause belongs to.

Inclusive practice

The lens this connects with

Through the inclusive practice lens, this is one of the approaches that may reduce barriers around:

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

This is the neglected half of Rowe's wait time research: the same three seconds, moved to after the answer, where she found it prompts elaboration and self-correction. The card’s attribution stands as published: Rowe.

The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Questioning & Discussion.

Keep exploring

Where next?

Back to this strategy in 04 Questioning & Discussion, across to what you're trying to improve, or into all 144 at once.

Want to take this further?

Support is available

Pedagogy First gives you a starting point. If you want support exploring how approaches like this can work across your school, trust or professional learning programme, that work is available.

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